Movies

China expected to be principal guest country at IFFI Goa

NEW DELHI: Chinese cinema is expected to be given the pride of place at the International Film Festival of India in Goa in November this year.

This emerged during talks between Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari and Chinese Minister of State Administration for Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television Cai Fuchao.

The two Ministers had delegation level talks covering a wide range of subjects in the Information and Broadcasting sector.

During the discussions, it was proposed to accord the status of Principal Guest Country to China during IFFI 2014. The International Film Festival of India is scheduled to be held from 20 to 30 November. The Chinese side may consider facilitating participation of prominent Chinese films with film personalities in the ‘Competition’ and ‘Cinemas of the World‘ sections of the festival. Both sides could consider cooperation between Film and Television Institutes of the two countries through exchange programmes of students and faculty”, Tewari added.

It was also agreed that a roadmap should be outlined to enhance bilateral cooperation in critical sectors of the Films and Broadcasting. It was reiterated that such a roadmap would enable enhancing people to people contact between the two countries.

During the discussions Tewari and Cai Fuchao were assisted by senior officials belonging to the Information & Broadcasting and SAPPRFT from the Chinese side. Both sides agreed to enhance cooperation and capacity building between personnel of the public broadcasters in both countries, strengthen cultural exchange programmes related to convening of Film Festivals and enhance exchange between the private film industries of both countries.

One of the key highlights of the discussion was the decision to enhance student exchange programme between Film Institutes of India and the Beijing Films School. Both sides agreed that the hosting of the Chinese Film Festival in Delhi was an important step to enhance the role and relevance of films between the people of both countries. Both sides also agreed to work out the modalities for strengthening capacity building of technical personnel of Broadcasting Sector. Another critical area of discussion pertained to exploring the possibility of Co-production agreements between India and China in the audio visual sector.